David Anthony Burke, better known by his stage name D4vd, is an indie rock and R&B artist born in Queens, New York. He soared to fame after going triple-platinum with his biggest hit “Romantic Homicide,” which has amassed over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify. Before his music career took off, he gained recognition as a Fortnite content creator. He began producing original music to avoid copyright issues with YouTube.

On September 8, 2025, a Tesla registered under D4vd’s name was discovered with human remains in the trunk. A week later, the remains were identified as those of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Reports quickly surfaced alleging that D4vd and Celeste were in a relationship, even though Celeste was only 14.

“I was really surprised when I found out she was only 14 at the time. It just makes the entire situation a lot more serious and unsettling,” junior Keith Luu said.

The first major piece of evidence linking the two emerged from a simple tattoo. Both D4vd and Celeste have “shhh” inked on their right index fingers. Shortly after this revelation, an unreleased song titled “Celeste” surfaced online, featuring lyrics that vividly describe a young woman, leading many listeners to believe it was written about the victim. According to unconfirmed reports, the two allegedly met when D4vd was sixteen and Celeste was just eleven years old. Multiple sources claim friends of the artist saw them together frequently and believed they were romantically involved. Despite all of this, D4vd is not currently a suspect in Celeste’s murder case.

“I am not sure how he is not a suspect in the case,” freshman Joshua Varghese said. “Maybe the song could be a far-fetched coincidence, but the matching tattoos and a whole song named after her? I think he should already be in jail.”

What’s most surprising about the situation is that D4vd’s music streams doubled in the week following the allegations, rather than declining. Whether this trend will continue, however, is unclear.  

“I really enjoyed his music. Now it is genuinely hard to listen to, knowing that he could possibly be a murderer” seventh grader Zachary Silver said.

While he has not been charged, the investigation is still ongoing. Even if D4vd is ultimately cleared from suspicion, many believe his reputation will be irreparably damaged.

“There seems to be a lot of evidence against him, but he is not even a suspect in the case. It could just be an internet hoax. Only time will tell,” volleyball Coach Correale said.